


winter's child

by antijosh



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Birthday, Gen, Lee Jihoon | Woozi-centric
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-22
Updated: 2017-11-22
Packaged: 2019-02-05 07:45:19
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,318
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12789972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/antijosh/pseuds/antijosh
Summary: Jihoon was born on the first snow of the year.





	winter's child

**Author's Note:**

> this is my first attempt at writing birthday fic, and i think it went alright! honestly its a miracle i actually got this posted on jihoon's actual birthday (kst), and as such its not rlly beta'd so my apologies as usual for any mistakes~  
> lyrics at the beginning and end of the fic are from winter's child by suzy, as mentioned by jihoon in their castaway boys ofd.

_겨울에 태어난 아름다운 당신은_

_Born in winter, this beautiful you._

 

 

Jihoon was born on the first snow of that year, and his mother made sure he never forgot. So every year on his birthday, in honor of that, Jihoon asks for snow. Some years he gets it and some he doesn’t, but every year he’s met with bitter cold and biting wind. Such is winter on the Korean Peninsula.

This year his birthday falls during promotions, and Jihoon is nothing short of exhausted. It’s Tuesday night and they’ve collapsed on the floor of the practice room, hair and clothes clinging to skin sticky with sweat. Jihoon slumps over bent knees, trying to draw enough oxygen into his lungs to make up for the hours of practice. The clock on the wall ticks its way past midnight, and it’s Chan who notices first.

“Hey,” he says, hoarse voice breaking through the sounds of labored breathing. “It’s Jihoon hyung’s birthday.”

“Happy birthday hyung.” Hansol scoots across the hardwood, too tired to actually get up and walk the three feet between them. He settles back into the fetal position, head pillowed on his arm next to Jihoon’s thigh. 

A slow, echoing chorus of “happy birthday Jihoon-ah” and “congratulations hyung” makes its way to Jihoon’s ears, and all he can do is nod in appreciation, hat slipping lower over his eyes.

“The last of our 96 line,” Junhui smiles fondly from across the room, Wonwoo’s head in his lap. “Do you feel old yet, Jihoonie?”

“I’ve only been 22 for a few minutes,” Jihoon finally replies with a snort.

Wonwoo laughs in Junhui’s lap, and Junhui jokingly pushes at his head, though not hard enough to displace him.

“What do you want for your birthday?” Joshua asks, and Jihoon doesn’t even have to think.

“Snow,” he replies instantly. “Snow and sleep.”

“Maybe we can get you the second one. Leader?” Josh turns to Seungcheol, who responds with a shrug.

“Ask Soonyoung.”

“Please Soonyoung hyung, its Jihoon hyung’s birthday,” Minghao whines from the corner. “Let’s just go home and sleep it’s been a long day.”

Soonyoung grins, wide and toothy. “Why do you think I’ll say no? I’m tired too, let’s go home.”

It takes everyone a while to pick themselves up off the floor and get enough blood circulating to walk properly, but eventually they stagger out in twos and threes. Jihoon ends up flanked by Hansol and Minghao, the two bickering on either side of him over who got Jihoon the better birthday gift. Jihoon would pay attention but he just takes a deep breath in, relishing the sting of cool night air as he inhales. It’s a little too cold and windy for comfort, but Jihoon prefers it that way. He knows he’s probably turning pinker by the second, but he doesn’t care. Something about this weather at night, nothing lighting their path but the glow of streetlights and still-open office buildings helps him to clear his mind and makes his burdens a little easier to bear.

 

  
  
Jihoon bemoans the fact that his birthday is on a Wednesday, because Wednesday means Show Champion and Show Champion means even more cameras backstage. Show Champion likes them to film everything, so they pull out another birthday cake for Jihoon to hold while the other members sing for the camera. As expected, they’re over the top, enough to make Jihoon cringe and try to hide his face behind the pretty white fondant.

Recording and monitoring goes smoothly, but Jihoon can’t help but let out a little extra breath he didn’t know he was holding when the van door shuts behind him and he knows the cameras are off. He feels guilty as soon as he thinks it, but some part of him wishes he could have a normal 22nd birthday like any other kid from Busan. That thought leaves as quickly as it comes, however, because Soonyoung lays his head on Jihoon’s shoulder and starts making faces that force Jihoon to find the energy to laugh because they’re just too damn funny. Seokmin starts singing obnoxiously loud and everyone starts yelling at him to shut up--it’s a happy ride home.  
  
When they finally reach the dorms, the kids are the first out of the van. It’s hard for Jihoon to register the excited chatter of the younger members as their feet hit the pavement, but when he does his heart skips a beat.

“It’s snowing!”

This gives him the energy to push himself out of the van, sneakers disrupting the fine white dusting covering the street. He looks up in wonder, reaching a hand out to catch the falling snowflakes on his open palm. Jihoon’s fingers are already going pink and numb, but he doesn’t care. He got his birthday wish.

“Jihoon-ah.” Jeonghan steps into the empty space beside him, but Jihoon keeps his eyes trained on the sky above. “Let’s not waste the night in the dorm. We should go to the river.” Usually when Jeonghan suggests going to relax along the Han river Jihoon shoots him down, opting to stay home in a cocoon of blankets with his cola and X-Men dvds, but tonight Jeonghan has a point.

“Make the kids go inside and get gloves then, or we’ll freeze our fingers off.” It’s not a yes, but Jeonghan knows what Jihoon means anyway.

Jihoon lets his eyes drop from the clouds above to look at Jeonghan’s face, which is plastered with a smile bright enough to keep them all warm the whole night.

“Kids!” Jeonghan says excitedly, turning away and heading towards 97 line who are drawing dirty pictures in the snow on the curb. “Go inside and get more winter clothes, we’re going to the river!”

 

 

When their van unloads again, the banks of the Han river are covered in a smooth blanket of white snow, which Jihoon’s members are all too excited to run directly into, marring the landscape with twelve sets of footprints. Jihoon trails behind, hands in his pockets as he takes in the view of the river illuminated by the city lights, his friends backlit by the reflection on the water.

Jihoon dusts the snow off of a bench so he can sit, watching his members play along the river. There’s not enough snow and its definitely not solid enough for snowballs, but that doesn’t stop Soonyoung from trying to shove snow down the back of Seungkwan’s jacket. Jeonghan and Joshua are walking down the path along the river arm in arm. Jeonghan must have made a joke because Jihoon can hear Joshua’s laugh from where he sits, and it puts a smile on his face.

“You know its still your birthday, right? Why are you sitting by yourself?” Seungcheol doesn’t ask before he sits down next to Jihoon, but then again, Jihoon thinks, he never really had. They’ve been friends too long to worry about those kinds of things.

“I like watching the others have fun,” Jihoon defends. He moves just a little closer to Seungcheol, because he can feel the heat radiating off his hyung’s body.

Seungcheol just nods, shoving his hands a little deeper in the pockets of hs coat.

“Jihoon-ah, I hope we stay friends for a long time.” Seungcheol keeps his eyes trained on the river while he says that, and Jihoon thinks he does so to spare Jihoon some embarassment.

“I don’t doubt that we will,” Jihoon replies. “You’ll probably be next to me on my fiftieth birthday. I don’t think I can get rid of you. Of any of you guys, actually.”

Seungcheol bumps their shoulders together with a laugh. “You love us though.”

“Yeah,” Jihoon nods, smirking as he watches Seungkwan topple backwards into the snow, taking Seokmin down with him. “Yeah I do.”

 

 

_겨울에 태어난 아름다운 당신은_

_Born in winter, this beautiful you._

_  
_ _눈처럼 깨끗한 나만의 당신_

_Clean like snow, you who belongs to me._

**Author's Note:**

> you can find me on [tumblr](http://antijosh.tumblr.com) and [twitter](http://twitter.com/pwjno).


End file.
